A Punk Rock Perspective of 25 Years in the Business of Music
In anticipation of their 25th Anniversary Show, Burning Bright Media’s associate journalist/flunkie Todd Grow caught up with Luke Schmaltz of King Rat to discuss the insufferable facades of rock stars, lazy record labels and the multiple functions of songwriting.
Todd Grow: I’ve known/followed you guys for a relatively long time now and as I recall you’ve played with some pretty big names. What’s it like sharing the stage with your punk rock heroes?
Luke Schmaltz: Well, I learned early on not to talk to famous people -- especially if you like their music. Egomaniac snowflakes in some of the bigger names in punk and rock’n’roll managed to ruin their music for me. Lemme put it this way, for a long time after meeting key members of bands like Social Distortion, Supersuckers, NOFX and The Legendary Shackshakers -- I had a hard time appreciating their music after finding out what kinds of shit-smeared puckered up assholes they were. There’s a certain vibe going around backstage at some shows where the inflated egos of albeit talented yet profoundly insecure people get broadcast at high volume. That sort of a scene creates the palpable, unmistakable poison in the air of what I call “Rockstar-itis.” It’s pretty gross, man.
OK, so in your estimation, are all famous people assholes or what?
They’re not all bad. The guys in Face to Face and Rancid were very cool. As a matter of fact, Trevor Keith and Lars Fredricksen of those bands, respectively, both said pretty much the same thing to me backstage at shows. It was something along the lines of “Hey, don’t let the asshole promoter of this show fool you into thinking he did you guys a favor by putting you on the bill because he didn’t. We requested you guys to open for us.”
So, for every fevered ego stinking up the rock and roll world there’s a down-to-earth rock star?
I would go so far as to say that. One can only hope they’re not all a bunch of blowhards but I will tell you this … the only thing worse than rock stars are their kids.
Really? Which kids of rock stars have you met?
Willie Nelson’s son, Lucas -- among others. What a brat that guy was. Back when I owned a club I booked him and his band. As soon as they showed up he started in with his whining. First he was upset that I billed him as Willie’s son. It’s like -- look, dude … how the hell do you expect me to meet your ridiculously high guarantee without making mention of your old man? You’re still a nobody. He bitched about the spot-on provisions I provided in accordance with his rider, he bitched about the stage sound, the sound man, his set times and on and on and on. At one point, after a rather terse exchange of me suggesting that he man the fuck up and stop acting like a spoiled little baby, one of his groupies actually said to me, and I quote “We’re gonna tell Willie you were mean to us.”
So you guys signed to an indie label recently, right?
Yep. We signed with Unable Records and the name says it all. “Unable” as in unable to do much of anything for us. It was a digital and physical distribution and promotion deal. But, once they got our investment money to cover their “costs for duplication, promotion and marketing” just about any detectable action from them concerning the promotion of our product ceased. My advice to bands is that if you have to pay to get into a record deal -- it’s bad news. Tell people coming at you with “pay to play” deals to fuck off and do everything for yourself.
Your songwriting seems to have evolved over time. I mean, there’s still the angst and intensity of the old stuff but I am detecting more of a sense of acceptance and humor in some of the newer songs and a deeper sense of seriousness in others.
From a lyrical standpoint, I’ve embraced sarcasm and irony as thematic constants. Call it a health sense of cynicism.
In your latest release “No Apologies No Regrets” you’re revisiting the tried-and-true sendoff (saying goodbye) song theme. Can you give any insight into the tunes “Nothing for Nothing” and “Thinkful Wishing?”
Death is a constant reality. It’s a really powerful event when someone close to you dies. The emotions need to be dealt with, expressed, and I daresay even shared if you can do it in a constructive way. When we were writing this record, Anthony (bass) and Pockets (drums) both lost very close friends. I took the opportunity to apply their immediate circumstances to songwriting. With Mike’s help (lead guitar) we came up with some really strong, heartfelt tunes that fulfill multiple purposes -- to entertain fans and to cheer up despondent bandmates.
Anything special planned for the King Rat 25 Years show?
Yeah, we’re all gonna drink like we are 25 years old again. Ha ha. But really, we plan to play 25+ songs from all 10 of our studio recordings -- all of our personal favorites. Since 25 years is considered to be the “silver anniversary” we will be vying for that all night -- meaning that we’ll be striving for the silver accolades of a second place performance. I guess in the world of punk rock obscurity, it’s our role to be the first losers rather than the last winners.
